the two men met only once and it was this moment right here, it was back in 2005, president obama was then senator obama from illinois. both men were the first black presidents of their respective nations, both men won the nobel peace prize, both men shattered racial, social and political barriers. brianna keilar is joining us from the white house right now. brianna, despite some of the parallels between the two men, president obama's pretty uncomfortable when people make that comparison of him to nelson mandela, isn't he? >> reporter: he is and it sort of makes sense, wolf, because nelson mandela is someone who is so iconic and also who made such great sacrifices being in prison for 27 years, as he did fight for freedom, and certainly also because president obama thought of nelson mandela as a hero for decades. president obama was just 19 years old when he first started participating in the anti-apartheid movement. it was 1981, he was a sophomore at oxidental college in california where he gave his first political speech, speaking out against apartheid. for president obama, nelson ma